standing in uniform with headgear off but in hand, dirty and sweaty as though they've just finished with a monster of a base-cleaning mission, looking very satisfied at the damage they've done, all smug and badass. Gunner's gaze at the viewer, expression reading as "I'm tired as hell but I can still kick you and your army's ass."

*swoon*

I'd add more to the conversation, but the description alone totally did me in.

I have several shelves filled with writers' books, some of which I found far more useful than others. I am curious about what others have on their shelves. What are your favorite writerly books? Which ones do you pull off the shelf more than others? What do you like best about them?

I'm not in front of my bookshelf to make a complete list, but I know I have shared before that some of the books that were really pivotal for me as a writer were the ones that taught me to edit, including Make Your Words Work (Gary Provost) and Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (Renni Browne and Dave King).

I am currently reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott because I have heard about it so many times. She makes some nice points about how writing doesn't come easy, even to the masters, and that you have to sit down and write, not just want to write or think about writing.

I participate over at http://www.absolutewrite.com as well. Their forums are incredibly useful, if rather overwhelming at first. They include lots of "stickies" at the tops of different topics to help newbies.

I would actually be interested in which books other writers love best. I rely on books more than websites, which is just because I started writing before the internet. Maybe I will start another thread for that.

Thanks, Julieann! That does make me feel better...I keep hoping it's only a troll...but you never know...I just went over and looked and it seems as though Reboekah and Katsesama got hit today, too... poor Katse got two zeroes...

I probably shouldn't say this, because it's going to sound arrogant, but in hopes that you'll find it helpful, Springie, I will. I know I'm a good artist. I'm not the best in the world, and there's lots for me to learn, and I make mistakes, but my work is not 0-quality. So the 0s don't bother me. They have nothing to do with me. The internet is filled with miserable, petty people looking for someone else to make miserable, too. The funny thing is that someone that bitter isn't even going to feel better after doing that, so I can't even say "I hope they feel better now that they did this mean thing to me." I know they won't.

Everybody who's posted work has wonderful things to offer -- not one person's work is 0-quality. And I've been through every piece of art on here, more than once! We are a wonderfully talented group. (And speaking of Reboekah, she's done a ton of great art she hasn't put up yet...she needs to add some more!)

I have been thinking a lot lately that I need to do more work so I can get better, because practice is the only way. I guess at the end of the day the only thing that upsets me about the Zero who's posting 0s is that s/he might manage to discourage someone who has a thinner skin, and that would be a real travesty.

It's a soft sci-fi (possibly YA) story with a teenager named Kelsey Hale (no, not a know-it-all who can do everything better than those around her who have actual experience), who finds out she may not be human after all. Which makes her wonder what else her supposed father has been keeping from her. All set across a backdrop of multiple universes.

Great mini-synopsis. I'm definitely interested.

Quote

The first line: While other girls her age worried about acne, boyfriends and college, Kelsey Hale's one sole goal in life was to have enough food not to starve, which wasn’t easy when food kept disappearing on her.

Over on Absolute Write, I've been participating in a thread where people post the first 3 lines of their WIP (work in progress), and this is wonderful! (Better than 90% of what I'm seeing over there, and there are a lot of published folks over there )